Pictured above: (l-r) Dr David Hardman MBE and Councillor Mike Whitby

The Leader of Birmingham City Council, Cllr Mike Whitby, has praised the work being carried out by Birmingham Science Park Aston (BSPA) to develop a knowledge economy within the city. 

Speaking at the Celebrating Birmingham Innovation & Entrepreneurship event held last night (Tuesday 8th June), Cllr Whitby congratulated BSPA on the success of its Entrepreneurs for the Future (E4F) scheme, which in the last six months has supported the creation of 20 new high tech, high growth businesses. 

Cllr Whitby, who is also Chair of Birmingham Science Park Aston, said: Birminghams heritage is famously founded on industrial innovation and manufacturing, and whilst manufacturing remains a central plank in the regions economy, future economic success must be derived from the utilisation of knowledge, skills and innovation. It is institutions like BSPA that are needed to really fly the flag for the city and the Birmingham Brand. 

We have emerged out of a deep recession, which exposed how reliant the UK economy was on one city, and one sector finance. We need to move away from an over reliance on the capital and recognise that our big regional cities are natural economic power houses. The innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers and students based at BSPA are vital to addressing that rebalance. 

The E4F scheme, which began at BSPA in November 2009, originally aimed to help establish 16 new ventures in 15 months a target that just six months later has been far surpassed. This is a great initiative to germinate and incubate the seeds of entrepreneurship, which in turn will bring further jobs, wealth and employment to our city. I wish the scheme every success as it continues. 

Dr David Hardman MBE, managing director of BSPA, commented: We have a wealth of talented entrepreneurs in the city who have some fantastic ideas for startup companies in high tech, high growth sectors such as IT, web 2.0, digital media, clean/green tech, medical technology and bio technology. 

We developed E4F to provide a holistic package of support for businesses as they start to take their first steps. As they emerge from incubation, BSPA offers an environment where knowledge-based businesses like these can thrive bringing together people with ideas and technologies, people with expertise and experience, and people with funds to invest.